Cultivating in Honkai!

It wasn't just Kiana who progressed leaps and bounds. She is, however, the one with the greatest progress.

Middle stage body cultivation, early stage mental cultivation, and early stage qi cultivation. All of it belongs to the Purple Mansion Realm.

The existence of honkai supplemented immortal cultivation, and as such, propelled her cultivation speed to the heavens.

Welt Yang follows next.

Hum-!

The underground level is filled with spiritual qi. It wasn't as exaggerated as Kiana's and Shi Tian's, though it is enough for his current level.

The "Plus One Law" applies in spirit veins too. The maximum efficiency of a cultivator is one major realm above theirs. This applies to high grade Spirit Roots and below.

No matter how much concentration there is, benefits can be maximized with a spirit vein one major realm above theirs.

For Foundation Establishment, a third grade spirit vein suffices.

Welt Yang's face looked uncomfortable. The pain he is feeling does not exist in his physical body.

It is in his soul.

"Forcing honkai energy inside the dantian…"

He could only praise Kiana's boldness.

This discovery came a year ago. She noticed how honkai energy forged the physical body, which speeds up body cultivation.

Kiana wondered if honkai energy can be directed to the dantian. She wanted to use the honkai's destructiveness and spiritual qi's restorative effect to forge the dantian. It will serve to speed up qi cultivation.

After a lot of twists and turns, Kiana succeeded. She unknowingly did the dangerous soul tempering of immortal cultivation, thereby increasing her cultivation speed sharply.

As a Herrscher, they have a thorough control of honkai energy. They can transport honkai energy to the metaphysical body (soul) where the dantian lies. Their fine control makes it easier to react when things start to go wrong.

What came next is intensifying it further. Kiana gradually increased the destructiveness of honkai energy.

She used herself—without Welt Yang's knowledge—to enact this experiment.

The only downside to it is the recovery of Foundation Establishment. It did not cause hidden injuries. Honkai energy remained true to its nature, strengthening the dantian (soul) along with spiritual qi's recovery.

For every forging session using honkai energy, they have to rest for three days. They can still do the normal qi cultivation during their rest.

Like that, Kiana managed to complete Foundation Establishment in under a year.

"Her recklessness is worse than Siegfried's…"

Thirty minutes later, Welt Yang emerged back to the surface. He is greeted by Tesla.

"Today's the day. Will you come with her?" She asked.

"Yes."

The two headed straight to one of the hangars.

A white-haired fairy waited for them. Her temperament, tainted with traces of dao and a certain solitude, made her look like a banished immortal.

"Will I be the main force?"

Kiana asked with some eagerness.

"Yes. Their research base is located at the depths of Okhotsk, approximately 3,500 meters below." Tesla explained. "Teleportation for infiltration is the most optimal choice."

Shi Tian created contingencies like he's Batman. On the off chance he could not escape the impending disaster, he hinted at a lot of things. Cocolia's suspiciousness, which he attributed to his imaginary Master, is one.

It led them to investigate Cocolia's dealings in a more in-depth manner. They weren't able to find the exact location of Cocolia's secret base at first. It took Kiana a few hours to find it using her spiritual consciousness at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Coupled with Seele's message to Kiana three days ago, it brought Cocolia's judgement forward.

"...How about I search for it myself?"

Her words immediately prompted a question from Welt Yang.

"Have you…"

"I stepped into another realm."

Kiana's response made him nod.

"As expected…"

He did not doubt Kiana's talents. Even though they are both high grade Spirit Roots, Kiana has a drive outclassing his. Her progress is bound to surpass his.

"You can't use your Herrscher power. You can only use spiritual qi. Are you confident?"

"Yes."

"Then let's carry it your way. Finding the research base and neutralizing Cocolia's forces are the main objective. You, Kiana, will be responsible for striking down the base. We will take care of the majority of her forces on the surface."

Welt Yang emitted a serious aura. It paralleled the Welt Yang in Kiana's memories.

Her ocean-like pupils flickered.

'Sword… No, Mister Yang's Heart is different.'

The existence of [Heart] in cultivation is not limited to weapons. There are special variants of it. Welt Yang is showing the development of the latter case.

'If he's here, he would know what it is…'

Kiana stared at the aurora surrounding her Herrscher Core. She turned it into her sole hope. She cemented in her mind that its continued existence represented Shi Tian's well-being—even if she is unsure if that was really the case.

'Humph. I am uber strong now. Maybe I will protect him this time..?'

Unfortunately, she is destined for a huge disappointment.

*****

Nothing much changed in the bubble world held by Su. The concentration of spiritual qi grew further, though it did not cause a qualitative change.

His eyes stared intently at Shi Tian's body.

For well over a year, his physical body received the infusion of honkai energy. It is constantly repaired by the surrounding spiritual qi.

Currently, it is sitting at the late stage of Purple Mansion Realm. Only, Shi Tian himself could not enjoy its upgrades.

"Are you ready?"

Su's voice traveled to his mental landscape. Shi Tian's mind is still severed from his body and soul…

Until today.

To resolve a troublesome high-level problem, his progress on immortal cultivation does not suffice. It is honkai that became Shi Tian's way out.

Ironically, it is also the one who placed him in this tribulation in the first place.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with!"

"As soon as you establish a connection with the imaginary space, I will enter viewing mode."

"Got it."

A bright white light emerged in Shi Tian's sight. It is far stronger compared to before.

Rumble-!

The [Thunder-Like Sword] and [Blade Mantra] combo kickstarted their plan.

The fifth level of [Blade Mantra], [True Form], is no longer limited to honkai energy control alone. It is a bonafide Stigma, unlike the Pseudo-Stigma formed by [Eminence] (Taixuan).

What does bonafide Stigma have compared to Pseudo-Stigmatas?

Stigma Spaces.

What does Shi Tian have other than [Blade Mantra]?

Herrscher Stigma.

Herrscher Stigmas are tied to Stigma Spaces. It is where Mei's and Kiana's Herrscher Egos reside. The said stigma spaces exist within the imaginary space. It can hold Herrscher personalities.

Similarly, [True Form] spawns another unique stigma space. If it is combined with the Herrscher Stigma Space, it creates a brand new stigma space, just enough to handle the half-poisoned mental power Shi Tian is about to stash away from him.

Rumble-!

The black and white space in Shi Tian's mental landscape shook.

'It's really fucking working!'

He came up with this idea. With the help of Su's knowledge, they managed to cook up a plan:

Throw the polluted mental power to the stigma space.

The Imaginary Tree exists within the Imaginary Space. It is also the place of the Cocoon of Finality's true body. The imaginary space is the space between reality and the Tree. It is more than capable of handling high-dimensional powers.

With the combined stigma spaces, it is more than enough to remove the polluted mental power on him. By then, Shi Tian's mind will be able to return to his body and cultivate properly. Dealing with things in the real world is also another priority.

Buzz-!

A strange fuzzy sound rang in his ears. The black and white colors began to dissipate.

Shi Tian could not tell whether the white color is actually dissipating. What he sensed is the "information" it carried—the realizations he used to absorb on a daily basis.

He could feel them disappearing bit by bit. Accompanying them is the meaninglessness brought by Nihility.

'What if…'

Shi Tian looked at the disappearing mental power. Although it is a huge hassle to not be able to cultivate properly, his mental cultivation, sword cultivation, and [Blade Mantra] grew the most. It is a tenfold cultivation boost, at the very least.

His sword cultivation, in particular, is already at the pinnacle of the third grade. He can feel it is only lacking a push to the fourth grade, [Sword Light Refraction].

His [True Form] is also at the pinnacle of what it could achieve. It is simply waiting for the next level to be created.

'...Nope. I can try to benefit from it once I am stronger... or if I can further my control over the stigma space. Maybe I can filter the good stuff out of IX's garbage?'

Shi Tian resisted the urge to do something.

Exploring the honkai's enhancement to cultivation is the better choice for now. He can also find a way to better utilize this half-polluted power once his mind reconnects to his body and soul.

Most importantly, he was worried something bad would happen without his presence.

'...She never gave up.'

Resolving the Tuna's worries became Shi Tian's concern.

His mental landscape soon returned to normal.

The white space—the pure realizations—is the power Shi Tian used to sever his mind from his body and soul.

It contained the power and attainment of a Void Refinement Realm cultivator.

A small mobilization of its power can easily achieve that. Even if it was turned into pure mental power, Shi Tian can still borrow a part of its strength—granted it is actively merging to him.

If his body and qi cultivation was higher, he could have done a lot more things. Unfortunately, they are not, which led to the previous situation.

"Fu…"

Shi Tian opened his eyes to the perception of reality.

*****

A/N: Bonus Chapter.

PS: Certified "Nah I'd Win" moment.